One of the reasons I wanted to run our own blog was to give the folks things they might not ordinarily see or read among regular primarily entertainment/music blogs. That's why we find models and approach them for interviews and (often) exclusive or first-look pics rather than just re-post random hot chicks we find on the net. So the other day, my housemate showed me the trailer for a new real-life porn of...The Simpsons. Yup. I've heard of - and freakin' loved - the many hilarious porn parodies over the years, and always admired the audacity and often timeliness of releasing their products, right when a mainstream film is still hot. Anyway, this parody of The Simpsons was next level. The cast generally resembled their character physically, and the styling and make up is awesome. Even the voice acting was great. Shit, the yellow paint bugged me out. Marge be hot, yo.
I was lucky enough to get to chat to the director of said flick, Mr Lee Roy Myers, who took out some time to talk to me about The Simpsons parody, his other work, how to get into porn directing and Canada.
Cee: Cheers for taking the time to chat, mate. How's things? Lee Roy: Things are great. I get to shoot what I shoot for a living. And luckily enough people appreciate it and buy it, so I get to keep shooting what I shoot for a living.
Cee: You were nominated at the recent AVN's something like 5 times. I didn't check the results, so how did you go? Lee Roy: It went great. Tom Byron won Best Actor for my movie, Big Lebowski: A XXX Parody, and Best New Line Award went to Romance Line, for which I shot most of the movies. So, that's like a win in my book.
Cee: How was the event itself? Any stories to share? Lee Roy: It started with going down the red carpet with three of my friends, Eddie Powell (Director of "Awakening To Love") & Sam Hain (Director of "Sex Files" & "Sex Files 2"), and Kina Hain, the best caterer in the biz. And it continued with interviews, photos, a cocktail party, and then the awards. Not too many stories to share, but it was great to finally see all of the performers finally wearing clothes.
Cee: To most red-blooded males, you have the dream job. That said, does your constant exposure to porn and sex dampen the excitement at all? Has it just become another job, or do you still get as much of a buzz as you surely did in the beginning? Lee Roy: First thing anybody that meets me will tell you is that I am a guy that emotes loving his job. I really, really, really love my job. Does working side-by-side with hot naked women get less exciting over time? It's still exciting, but we work really hard to make our movies. So, most of our energy is spent concentrating on the work at hand, and not the hot naked women around us. So, when we get a chance to see the excitement, it is still exciting. I mean how can you not watch great sex happening and not enjoy those moments, no matter how many times that you have seen them.
Cee: How does one get into the field of porn direction? How did you manage it, especially being from Canada and away geographically from LA (where most films are made)? Lee Roy: I shot some movies in Canada back in the day, but my work never really got recognized (as they shouldn't have because they were all really pretty terrible attempts at gonzo & reality porn). It wasn't until I was asked to write a script - a comedy about a porn office that things kicked off for me. I wrote The Office XXX Parody, which became a huge hit. So, that led to Scrubs XXX Parody, and Seinfeld XXX Parody, which led to dozens more. Unfortunately, because I have been shooting pretty much non-stop in LA ever since, I don't get back as often as I like. But I do have a Canadian Partner, George Christos at Kookoo Entertainment, who is working hard at bridging the gap between Canadian porn and the international market.
Cee: Your career seems to have mainly centered around parodies, which are extremely well executed. How did that happen? Lee Roy: Well, the adult industry has taken a huge hit in sales in recent years. Piracy in the form of illegal tube sites & torrent sites, as well as the economic drop most consumers have suffered from have affected people's porn buying habits. It turned out that parodies brought new porn buyers into the marketplace. So, I just happened to get in at the right time, at the start of the porn parody boom. And thankfully, consumers have been really receptive to my work. However, I have shot gonzo and adult romance movies and original features, but parodies are just what i am most well-known for.
Cee: The sets on the parodies are damn near spot on, too. And it seems you tend to work with a lot of the same talent. Is that because they're easily adaptable to the various characters, or because you guys have strong working relationships? Lee Roy: Marko B does most of my sets. The man is amazing. He has a great eye for detail. As for the talent, I like to use people that are look-a-likes and sound-a-likes, but are also able to act, and perform sexually. It's already not a huge talent pool, There are only so many people brave enough to have sex on camera. So, yes, I do have some people that I keep working with. And yes, that has created strong relationships.
Cee: Your latest parody is of The Simpsons, which looks amazing and hilarious. Where did that idea come from? Lee Roy: Thank you. I had a good feeling about it being big. But interest and sales are huge. Honestly, I had been thinking about it for a while. After a shoot we had all ended up at a bar next door, and a performer had mentioned it to me, but we joked about it for a while and then I kind of brushed it off. We were all drinking so I thought once I sobered up I would realize what a terrible idea it was. Anyways, I woke up and I started considering it. I brainstormed ways that I could pull it off and started pitching it to a couple of studios. First as an animated feature called "The Sampsons" about the Simpsons sexed up, next door neighbors. Then as a live action movie. Well, nobody was interested. So I let it sit. Finally, I left the studio that I was working for and realized that this was the project I should do. Now, if you've never seen my stuff before, you may not know that I have a pretty weird sense-of-humor. I did parodies of Big Lebowski, Human Centipede, Golden Girls, and Seinfeld. So, I knew that this was at least as weird and funny as any of those were, so I went for it. And here we are.
Cee: What did you use to get the yellow colour on the skin of the actors? From what I saw it seems most of it stayed on lol. Lee Roy: Actually we used full body paint, and post colour effects. Honey Myers, my wife is a genius when it comes to editing and color correction. So, she pumped up the yellow in post and made it pretty vibrant, so it almost looks like a mix between human and cartoon. I really love what she did.
Cee: Will you look into doing more cartoon parodies after this one? Lee Roy: Sure. I have some ideas.
Cee: What's next for you? Lee Roy: Well, you can look out for Pr0n - The Tron XXX Parody (Co-Directed by Sam Hain), Katy Pervy (a very funny parody of Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and a very weird & twisted sex scene with Katy & our Elmo parody look-a-like, Elmer. Yes, puppet sex!), Here Cums The President (A huge budget feature, Co-Directed by Ronal Raygun, for a new studio called CEA), and a remake of the classic adult movie, Sex World. Lots more to come after that.
Cee: Any message for the people? Lee Roy: If you like my movies, please buy them so I can make some more.
Cee: Hit us with where folks can find out about you and your flicks online. Lee Roy: Well, you can follow me, Lee Roy Myers on Facebook or Twitter, and they can check out SIMPSONS - THE XXX PARODY at www.simpsonsporno.org.
Cee: Thanks for your time man! Lee Roy: Thank you for chatting with me.